The body of the Wales football
manager, Gary Speed, was found by his wife, Louise, in the garage of their home
in Huntington, near Chester, shortly after 7am on Sunday, an inquest heard on
Tuesday. The coroner, Nicholas Rheinberg, opened and adjourned the inquest at
Warrington town hall. A full hearing will take place on 30 January.

The inquest heard that police
were not treating the death as suspicious.

Rheinberg asked the coroner's
officer, James Hargreaves, when and where Speed had died. "At his home
address, sir, on 27 November," he replied.

The preliminary postmortem
examination found the provisional cause of death was hanging.

Detective Inspector Peter Lawless
of Cheshire police, said: "Just after 7am, we were called to Huntington
Hall with a report of a hanging. Uniformed colleagues initially arrived and I
was called a short time after, at around 8.30am."

He said Speed had been found by
his wife who had contacted the ambulance service and "was advised on what
to do."Speed, 42, played for Leeds United, Everton, Newcastle United,
Bolton Wanderers and Sheffield United during a lengthy and successful career,
and won 85 caps playing for Wales.

This is the experimental tournament where Ferguson will use his young players to gain experience and to taste real match atmosphere. It is very interesting to see how United youngster fare in this game. United had the habit of producing good young players. Although most of them find place in United team is hard to come by due to many talented players, many of them are regulars at other teams.

Ferguson definitely give Paul Pogba a start for this game. The talented player from Le Havre academy contract will expire end of this season. This already attracted interest many big clubs and Ferguson will have to use his managerial skills to convince this young Frenchman to stay. Others young starlet that maybe get the place would be Zeki Fryers, Ravel Morrison and Michael Keane. Ferguson also mentioned that will give places to Da Silva twins, Macheda and Mame Biram Diouf. Also in the contention is Darren Gibson. Ferguson will balance the team with experience players in Smalling, Park and Valencia. I'm hoping Berbatov also get the place in the starting line up.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed
that six of last season's FA Youth Cup-winning side are being assessed for
first-team action.

The United boss says Paul Pogba,
Ravel Morrison, Jesse Lingard, Zeki Fryers, Larnell Cole and Michael Keane have
been recommended to him by his staff for possible duty as he ponders his
selection for the Carling Cup quarter-final with Crystal Palace.

"The monitoring system here
is good and there's a lot of consistency with our Academy staff," he told
the new edition of Inside United. "These are guys that have been here a
long time and know what to look for. When somebody like Paul McGuinness comes
to me and says: 'He's a first-team player', then I know to keep a special eye
on the player.

"From there, we'll bring the
boy into first-team training for a couple of sessions. That's what we're doing
at the moment with Paul Pogba, Ravel Morrison, Jesse Lingard, Zeki Fryers,
Larnell Cole and Michael Keane. They're all training with the first team at the
moment."

Defender Fryers, midfielders
Pogba and Cole plus striker Keane have already made their debuts in the
competition while United fans cannot wait to see how Morrison performs when he
is given his chance by the manager.

But The United boss will only
make the call to step the individual up when he is ready and admits he is
always careful to monitor how they perform in training before adding to his
list of 'Fergie's fledglings'.

"That allows me to see how
they cope playing against seasoned professionals, it lets me judge their
temperament. It allows me to get a far better picture of how they're
progressing. And, while this is going on, you hope they're playing well for the
Reserves and displaying the right attitude and enthusiasm.

Manchester United are reportedly set to make a shock move
for Real Madrid star Sami Khedira as Sir Alex Ferguson looks to add a top-class
defensive midfielder to his ranks.

Khedira moved to Real in July 2010 following an impressive
World Cup for beaten finalists Germany, but he failed to capture his
magnificent Bundesliga form and experienced a mixed first season at the
Bernabeu.

He remains Jose Mourinho's first-choice midfield anchor, but
the Portuguese tactician has opted for Lassana Diarra on a number of occasions
this season.

Reports have begun to emerge linking a number of top
European clubs, including Chelsea, Manchester City and AC Milan, with a move
for Khedira.

And according to caughtoffside.com, United are also keen on
the 24-year-old's services. Ferguson has been eager to sign a defensive
midfielder with the ability to protect the backline while link up play with
midfield and has struggled to find a suitable player since Roy Keane.

Owen Hargreaves was signed to fill that void, but his
continuous battle with injury meant he spent much of his four year spell at Old
Trafford on the sidelines.

And it now appears that Ferguson has set his sights on
£20m-rated Khedira with the view of making an official offer at the end of the
season.

I like this guy. His presence at the midfield brings confident to his team mate. A dynamic midfielder with great aerial ability. Great energy that cover lot of ground like Roy Keane. Agreed that Ferguson had to sign this guy. He was the the captain of Germany Under 21 that won European Championship in 2009 beating England 4-0. Well he is the main man for Real Madrid but worth of try to sign him. Good Luck Ferguson

He was on “great form” according
to those there and left the studio after making tentative plans to appear again
on the show before Christmas. This morning, a little over 18 hours later, the
42-year-old was found hanged at his home in Cheshire having apparently
committed suicide.

Last night mystery surrounded his
death, with friends and figures in the football world at a loss to explain why
Speed, a successful young manager and former Premier League player, would
apparently take his own life.

Speed’s death came a day after
the former Liverpool footballer Stan Collymore spoke candidly about his battle
with depression. Online speculation suggested that Speed had perhaps suffered
from the illness. Whether he did was not certain last night. There was also
suggestion that Speed, a former Leeds, Everton, Newcastle United and Bolton
Wanderers player, had recently learned that a tabloid newspaper was to print a
story about his private life.

The Sun newspaper denied online
accusations.

A message on the paper’s official
Twitter account read: “No truth in this story. The Sun was not investigating
Gary Speed in any way.”

Police were called to Speed’s
home in Huntington, Chester, shortly after 7am today. Officers discovered his
body and a statement was released indicating that there were “no suspicious
circumstances”.

His wife, Louise, and two
children, Edward, 14, and Thomas, 13, were believed to be with family at the
remote country house. Police said that the family intend to make a public
statement “at a later date”.Last week Speed travelled to Brussels to attend a
fixtures meeting for Wales’s World Cup campaign.His Saturday had started with a
trip to Salford, to the BBC’s new studios, to appear as a guest on Football
Focus alongside his former Leeds United team mate Gary McAllister.

Dan Walker, the show’s presenter,
said that Speed gave no outwardly sign of any personal turmoil. Instead he
spoke about golf and his two sons and even made tentative arrangements to
appear on the show next month.

Mr Walker said: “He was on great
form, cracking jokes and asking about my family and kids. He was talking
passionately about the future. There was absolutely no indication at all.

“He gave me the impression that
he was really looking forward to his kids growing up to be really good
footballers and Wales qualifying for the World Cup.”

After the show ended, at 1pm, he
met up with Match of the Day pundits Alan Shearer, whom Speed had played
alongside at Newcastle United, and Mark Lawrenson to watch the early Premier
League game between Stoke City and Blackburn Rovers. Then, just before 3pm, he
made the short journey to Old Trafford to watch his former team Newcastle take
on Manchester United. The match finished shortly before 5pm and it is thought
Speed travelled back to his home in Chester where, little more than 12 hours
later, he was found hanged. At some point in the day Speed is thought to have
spoken to his former Wales team mate Robbie Savage.

Savage, who is currently
appearing on Strictly Come Dancing, wrote on Twitter: “He was upbeat on phone
yesterday we were laughing together, talking football and dancing he was a
great teammate and a great friend

“He come to watch strictly 3/4
weeks ago I high fived him in the front row he loved the show ,he loved life he
loved his family ! Devastated”

Other tributes were paid from the
world of football. Michael Owen, the Manchester United striker, lived close to
Speed in Cheshire. He wrote: “Just cannot believe the news regarding Gary
Speed. We waved at each other a couple of days ago dropping our kids off at
school. I'm numb.

“He has died aged 42. So sad. He
lived local to me and we knew his family. He leaves behind 2 sons. Tragic.”

The Prime Minister David Cameron
also released a tribute via a Downing Street spokesman.

It said: "The Prime Minister
was deeply saddened to hear of the death of Gary Speed, who was greatly
respected by football fans across the country both as a player and manager.

"The Prime Minister's
thoughts are with his family and friends on this very sad day for fans
everywhere, especially in Wales."

The Football Association of
Wales’s chief executive Jonathan Ford said: “I, and all of the football family
of Wales, am devastated by the news of Gary’s passing. My thoughts and prayers
are with his wife and family at this difficult time.”

Phil Pritchard, the association’s
president, added: “I am completely shocked by this terrible news and my
thoughts are with his family. We will do whatever we can as an association to
help them in this difficult time.”

Bahrain stormed back from two goals behind to score three goal in 10 minutes to seal victory over Malaysia in Olympic qualifying at Bukit Jalil Stadium last night. Both team needed a win to salvage hope in advancing to the next round.

With both team pointless it was a game for pride especially for Malaysia young side. The young tiger ranked outsider in this group so the a point against team from the gulf would mean a lot. After winning the Sea Games gold medal this is the true arena to test the squad. And they did give the best and played the best game. They not intimidated by size of the opponents, tactical superior and pacey forwards. The played their own game. Their passing and ball controlling were good. They had their time.

Bravo Harimau Muda. This squad is for the future and current. The face of Malaysia that once again dominated South East Asia and eventually Asia.

United played Newcastle on Saturday to amend for Europe disappointment against Benfica. This time United played their best game ever. There was flash of old United. Confident was high, passing was great and perfect, backline rock solid, in short United played a great game. But again the result was not the one that desire. United was held for 1-1.

Not a good result but look at the positive side especially the way United played it was something that need to worry so much. It was the performance that most of United fans been waiting for along time. As the fans have been accustomed to winning games and trophies, draw was not bad at all considering the great game they showed.

Carrick and Giggs again partner at the midfield as Ferguson continued to search for winning combinations. And both were not disappointed.Carrick said to be not in favour of his gaffer and fans, but much appreciated by the team mates, again display terrific performance in this game. He won tackles, defended his back four solidly and produced decent passes. Statistics revealed that he had 45 from 54 passes completed or 83%, won seven tackles and three interceptions. While Giggs also performed well. Sometimes had the opportunity to run towards the defenders, showing his legendary teasing run that made him master winger and also create opening to the strikers.

Below was the game statistic.

United

Newcastle

Shots (on target)

29 (7)

8 (5)

Total Passes

387

200

Passing Accuracy

81%

65%

Ball Possession

60%

40%

Tackles won

28

23

Interceptions

18

11

Fouls

12

15

Corners

11

3

Offsides

4

2

The talking point surely the penalty awarded to Newcastle. It was not a penalty surely. Ferdinand clearly won the ball. However Ben Arfa theatrical act convinced the referee assistant to give penalty. The referee must seen the incident but allowed himself to overrule by his assistant.

Another one was Hernandez late goal that was judged offside. It seemed that he was in the line with the last defender. Just looked at picture below.

It was a great game by United and made me happy if United could continue this kind of performance. Glory Glory United.

United played their fifth game of UCL this season at Old Trafford with mission to qualify into the next round. However their opponent once a giant of Europe proved to be very stubborn and United had to settle with 2-2 draw. With this result United will have to avoid defeat away to Basel in their final group
match. Basel, who drew 3-3 at Old Trafford when they visited in September, are
just a point behind United and Benfica after winning 3-2 away to group whipping
boys Otelul Galati.

United played terrific game with fluid passing that pinned down the Portugal side into their half. Knowing that United will attacks relentlessly Benfica was happy to sit back and launched direct counter on United. A great game for United but not good result. This almost surely put United on second place slot in group stage where most of the Big Boys are waiting in the next round. The possibility to meet Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich looming on United. Maybe game with big club will improve United game and march on into the final.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

It was the moment all the Malaysians waiting for. It is beyond
races, religions, age and political ideologies. The moment where all Malaysians
leapt into the air with joy, diffusion around Malaysia in self chosen places,
filled with of true satisfaction after Harimau Muda defeated the host nation
Indonesia in 2011 Sea Games football final.

Malaysia was the underdog the tag that our team had no
complaint about it. And Indonesia who really wanted the gold to fulfill the
dreams of millions people as they had not won it for two decades. Expectations
was high, hope been in the air with prayers so the nerves the fuelling
Indonesian players. But still the arrogant covered Indonesia media and its
people. So confident they can wallop Malaysia team. While hostile reception
continued not only towards Malaysia Team but also the supporters.

Their act cordoning bus that ferrying Malaysia team showed
they did not know the meaning of sporting spirit. It also portrayed their level
of civilization and education somehow not at the respectable stage. No respect
at all and no courtesy as host nation. Shame on you Indonesians.

Then again showing their no tolerance and patience, this
time towards their own people, a stampede occurred. According to reports, two
people were killed and a nine years old boy was left in a coma. An AFP reporter
at the scene said hundreds of people were packed tight against ticket barriers
as police closed the gates shortly before kick-off late on Monday, with many
fans inside forced to crouch in aisles and walkways.

So when there were reports saying that a stampede was
normal at major sports, religious and entertainment event
showed something must been wrong with Indonesian people. Security must not be
comprised, it must be at the top of the list.

It was not surprised when chef de mission of Myanmar, which
will host the next SEA Games in 2013, has criticised organisational standards
and said conditions at the opening ceremony in Palembang were "not
safe". They poised to do much better than Indonesia.